Wounded Animals
by Alisu
Summary: Zevran is seeking shelter for the night but apparently he wasn't the first one to choose that particular cave.
1. Chapter 1

_First of, the Dragon Age nor it's characters are not mine and all that. And as usual comments are welcome. Should be couple more chapters to come._

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><p>Wounded animals. Zevran didn't really know nor, at the moment, care how that creature had ended up alone and hurt in the same cave, merely a hole in the cliff wall, which he had chosen to use as a shelter from the harsh night of the Wounded Coast. He recognised the oddly marked elf though, even if he couldn't quite remember his name. Earlier when the champion of Kirkwall had helped him to thwart his latest pursuers, this one had been part of her troupe. Now thought the feverish elf seemed everything else than heroic. All things considered Zevran decided it wouldn't be proper to let the elf die in his hands, at least if there was some way for him to help.<p>

It didn't take long for Zevran to find the most probable reason for the fever, a badly ripped wound in the elfs ornately tattooed leg. Whatever had hurt him had teared through the armor and deep into the flesh. Someone, assumably the elf himself, had tried to bind the wound with strips of cloth and while it might have stemmed some of the bleeding, it hadn't saved him from infection. It was hard to say how long he had even been here, nor guess how hard it had been for him to crawl here. Or how long he had been unconscious, Zevran wondered as an afterthought.

After making sure there was no other apparent wounds Zevran laid the elf rest on his own bedroll and snatched his water skin being pleased that for once he had at least decent supplies and wasn't even particularly on the run. He could even risk making a small fire, especially since the opening of the cave was in narrow canyon which would hide the light from showing all too far. At first though he removed the loosely wrapped bandages and the nearly destroyed armor piece to clean the wound properly. The sudden shine of the tattoos around the wound was the only warning he got that his patient had regained his consciousness, and more through instinct than perception he was able to dodge the incoming weak attempt of punch. He took a step back from the patient in favour of letting the marked elf to gather his situation.

"Leave me be" the patient snarled after taking a loose glance around the closed space and noticing the only other person was the blond elf. He tried to clamber up in a sitting position but apparently the pain made it hard. "I'm afraid I can't comply with that request, my friend" Zevran answered and gently pressed the others shoulder to keep him from moving too much. The touch was obviously a mistake, as the white tattoos flared and, had the owner of them been in better condition, the resulting attack would have sent Zevran flying to the opposite wall. Now though he was merely pushed away before the patient fell back to rest.

"Do not touch me" he growled as imposingly as he could, which didn't amount to much. "You do realise cleaning that wound of yours would be rather difficult otherwise, yes? And due services rendered in the past, I just can't leave you dying here alone. Your lover wouldn't appreciate that either I'm sure." Zevran let out a soft laugh for the surprised look his comment caused. "Do not think I didn't see that much. I'm a bit of an expert when it comes to matters of love.. or sex.." Zevran explained with a grin trying to lighten the atmosphere only to notice it was not working on his surly patient. "The name's Zevran, by the way" he added while continuing to clean the wound, this time trying to avoid any unnecessary skin contact. "Fine. Do what you will." was the defeated answer he got from the white haired elf who had clearly resigned to his fate, at least for now.


	2. Chapter 2

_Due technical troubles, it is possible that possible reviews from the first couple publishing days for the chapter 1 had gone missing. Or more probably I'm just too hopeful and there wouldn't have been any in the first place. In any case, I don't own the characters and all that.._

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><p>After dressing the wound, Zevran left his sleeping patient to go and gather some firewood. Since the weather had seemed to be taking a turn for worse he used some extra effort to gather as much dry wood as he could before the rain hit, as he thought they might be spending in the cave quite some time. It was already pouring when he got back with his haul and, being drenched he got out of his wet clothes as soon as he had got a small fire lit. He was just hanging his clothes to dry when the sounds behind him told that his marked patient had woken up. When he turned back to face the other elf, it was clear by the scowl he was given that the sight of his half naked body was not appreciated. "Are you really not liking what you see? You should know I have been deemed quite gorgeous." Zevran started playfully.<p>

"I have no interest for your looks, elf" the patient snarled and tried to get into a sitting position again. It was obviously painful so Zevran went to offer his aid. "I don't need your help", the other continued with the same disgruntled tone. Zevran gave him a more serious look even if he couldn't completely dispel his customary playfulness. "You have been of help to me in the past, and I'm going to return the favor by helping you now. You do admit you would have most likely perished, had I not chanced upon you, yes?" he explained with his flowing Antivan accent. After a brief consideration the other nodded slightly and muttered "fine...". Zevran helped him to lean against the rough stone wall of the cave, giving him a good view at the cave entrance as well as the rain outside. He had already turned away to go to tend the fire when a voice behind him called "I am Fenris." Zevran turned back but apparently there was nothing else this Fenris was going to say.

After eating Zevran started to wonder how to spend the night. The supper had been a meager meal, mainly dried meat and hard bread. He had offered a similar share for Fenris, who had grudgingly declined it. Zevran had not been on the mood to argue so he had just left the food beside the hurt elf. Later he had noticed the other had picked up a piece of meat and started to chew it. Whatever that creature was, he was incredibly proud, Zevran had mused while looking at the rain. And that had reminded him of annoying detail about the sleeping. The cave was not particularly warm, regardless of the small fire, and his clothes were still damp. That alone wouldn't have been a problem but his bedroll was in the use of the other. The idea about sleeping near naked on the cold stone floor was not too tempting.

Fenris must have noticed his shivering, while he called "Come here." It was hard to say if he was annoyed or not, his tone didn't seem to have much difference. Zevran, grateful for any reason to move, went to see what was the matter. He saw that Fenris had managed to lay back on the floor, apparently without cursing too much since he hadn't noticed. Fenris pointed a place besides him, fairly within the cover even if that would be narrow space for them both. "You are freezing, sleep here." he said and for once Zevran had to admit he couldn't sense the motives of such an offer. He hurried to comply though, mostly because the warmth of the other made him realize how totally cold he felt. When he was under cover as well, Fenris promptly turned his back on him, making it clear he didn't want any other advances. Zevran surprised himself of thinking what a shame it was while he did the same. Whatever that creature was, it intrigued him.


	3. Chapter 3

_Back from ashes, maybe_

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><p>When Zevran woke up next morning it was still, not surprisingly, raining heavily. He almost turned around to gently wish good morning before he remembered this particular bed mate might not appreciate the gesture. Instead he rose up and went to light up a fire to get a semblance of warmth to the small cave. His clothes were still not quite as dry as he would have preferred but he put his trousers on nonetheless as well as the tunic even if he left it loose. He didn't even bother with the armor. In that small cave they would be easy targets anyway for anyone who'd brave through that weather. That didn't mean he would have left his weapons though. After getting the fire lit he sat down and started to sharpen and oil his blades which didn't appreciate the damp weather any more than he did.<p>

He had been working in a silence for quite a while before realising his patient had got up and was staring at him. Zevran flashed his most charming smile while saying "good morning to you pretty one. You slept well, yes?" The other elf, while clearly not being in condition to move yet even if he was looking a bit healthier, instead grabbed the first thing he could to toss. it turned out to be a flat piece of wood which had served as a makeshift plate last night. Zevran was able to dodge it easily, especially as he had expected some kind of retaliation. He wasn't even sure why he was teasing this Fenris as it was already clear his approaches were not welcome even if they had been sincere. And this one could be rather dangerous if annoyed too much, Zevran reminded himself, although he had always courted danger, at times rather literally, and usually had come out victorious. Besides this particular danger was quite good looking with the tattoos adding their intricate touch. They didn't seem to be ordinary ink either, it would be fun to trace them even if the owner of them seemed to have a serious touching issue.

Zevran was shaken out of his musings by a faint sound from outside. If he hadn't learned to be on the edge at all times the sound could have easily been drowned in the pour of the rain but as it was, he took a quick glance to the other while readying his just polished knives. It was clear Fenris had heard it as well and while he hadn't moved much Zevran knew from his pose it would be dangerous to go near. So this one had senses honed much like himself he thought while turning his attention back to the opening of the cave readying for the visitor who was gradually closing to their shelter.

It didn't take long before it was apparent it was just a large unlucky rodent which had tried to escape the rain to the same hole they had chosen earlier. Lucky for them though as that meant fresh meat for dinner. With a flick of his wrist Zevran sent his knife flying and it found it's way to the throat of the surprised beast. He clambered up and went to collect his prize which he brought back by the fire. He was careful not to remove his knife before he had got a small wooden bowl out of his bag where he let the blood spill. Not necessarily just because of the mess it would have made, although he had some distaste towards blood stains. It was a sign of a bad assassin to leave a mess behind, save in some rare cases where it was the desired outcome. But sparing every part of the catch was a habit he had learned due the years of being on the run.

When the bowl was full he turned to look at the other and to his surprise was met with an approving look. "You want a drink?" he asked cheerily offering the bowl to Fenris. If he had meant to gross the other out it hadn't worked as the offer was met with slight nod and something that might have even be called a smile. Zevran took the couple steps there was between them and handled the bowl over being careful not to spill it. "Thank you," Fenris muttered and after Zevran had turned his back to him to return to the fire added, "for looking after me." Zevran turned his head in a mild surprise to the tone as everything else he'd heard this far had been at least half hostile. He was only met with silence and eerily disturbing image of the white haired elf leaning on the wall and sipping the blood from the bowl, his lips colored bright red by it. With a mild shudder he hid with a shrug he sat back down by the fire and started to gut and skin the rodent to prepare it for frying.

"So, I take it by your reaction to the sounds of our lovely dinner that you are as eager for visitors than I am, no? I would assume that I should count myself lucky that I found you unconscious. Are there less desirable visitors that you are expecting, maybe those responsible of the wound in your leg?" Zevran didn't actually expect an answer but that didn't stop him from trying to chat up. It was rare enough for him to have company nowadays, at least company which didn't want to sell him to highest bidder or outright kill him. Sure this white haired elf had tried to lash at him too but it had been to his own perceived defense, not something personal against Zevran himself.

There was a snort and when Zevran turned to look at the other he raised a hand and pointed to the opposite end of the cave. "The one responsible of the wound is right there. It was my own stupidity." was a disdained answer. When Zevran looked at the direction pointed he saw a wooden branch, a wrist thick with broken ends. The other end was quite pointy and covered in blood, the other seemed to be fairly freshly broken from whatever dried up tree it had belonged to. A small bloodstain in the cave wall a foot from the ground made him visualize how the bloody branch had been tossed from the other end of the cave, landing where it had hit the wall.

"So you are saying you just went and struck that branch to your leg, yes? I have to tell you I find it very hard to believe. While I don't know you near as well as I would like to know, you do not seem like a person who would do such a useless thing on purpose. The pain alone would be..." Zevran commented while turning back to his company. To his surprise he was greeted with an angry flash of the white tattoos again. "What do you know of pain?" the other snarled angrily with his grip around the bowl tightening. For a moment Zevran was sure it would be hauled at him too, but the other seemed to be able to gather his composure before he'd toss his valuable meal away. "I dropped on the branch from the cliffs above," he answered instead, as if the outburst hadn't happened. Zevran smiled slightly while he returned to his chore. Apparently he had found another touchy spot, apart from the touching itself.


End file.
